Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalog

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnic groups and areas
Original text
Rate this translation
Your feedback will be used to help improve Google Translate

K182a. Sleeping Defender. .16.27.-.32.

A mighty hero who is in a cave (in a crypt, etc.) will one day come out into the light (to help his people), or he could come out, but decides not to do so.

Germans (Hesse), Serbs, Bulgarians, Slovaks, Ukrainians (Galicia), Ossetians, Shughni, Lithuanians, Chuvash, Mari.

Western Europe. Germans (Hesse) [inside the Odenberg mountain is Charlemagne with his army; before the war begins, the mountain opens up, Charlemagne comes out with his army, blows a bugle and goes with his army to another mountain]: Grimm, Grimm 1816, No. 26: 32.

Balkans. Serbs [Mark Korolevich was incredibly strong; he died when his horse Šarac got stuck in the Danube floodplains or when the voivode Mirčeta shot him in the mouth with a golden arrow; or so many people died in the battle that M. was swimming in blood and cried out to God; who carried him to a cave together with his horse; M. fell asleep, having driven his sabre into a scattering of stones; he will wake up and come out into the light of day when the horse has eaten all the moss and the sabre has fallen from under the stones; some say that M. fled to this cave when he first saw a gun: he shot himself in the palm and said that now any scoundrel can kill the young man]: Karadžić 1987: 425-426; Bulgarians (Rhodope, Smolin) [Rome-pope or priest Martin is the owner of the fortress of Kechik or Kechi-kaya (Goat Rock). He is such a great hero that when he wakes up, his eyelids are propped up with pitchforks. When the Turks come, he locks himself in the fortress and defends himself for a long time. The conquerors resort to a tried and tested method: they let in a donkey fed with salt; driven by thirst, it finds the fortress's water supply. Then Martin-pope jumps over the Golyam Palas mine on horseback and disappears. He promises to return when people start shoeing horses with silver horseshoes and tying on golden bridles]: Petrov 2001: 216-217.

Central Europe. Slovaks [once every 7 years knights fight on Mount Sitno; the sound of hooves and horns can be heard; once a warrior called out to a peasant, but he did not answer; if he had said "Already", the entire army would have left the mountain]: Gašparíková 1993, no. 106: 74-75; Ukrainians (Galicia) [Queen Helena fattens a louse to the size of a boar and keeps it in a glass jar. She announces that she will marry the one who guesses what kind of animal it is. She punishes the wrong answer with death. Many young men perish this way. Finally, the scabby Bunyak appears, whose eyelids are such that two people can lift them with a pitchfork, and then he can see for a hundred miles. Coming to Queen Helena, he orders his eyelids to be lifted with a pitchfork and guesses that there is a louse in the jar. Not wanting to marry the monstrous groom, Elena and her men flee, leaving Bunyak her possessions. He, having ordered his eyelids to be raised with a pitchfork, sees where she has hidden and rushes faster than the wind, desiring the queen more than her lands. The queen, fleeing, orders mountains to be piled up behind her from Lvov to Kyiv. Bunyak overcomes them with difficulty. Near the city of Plesnesk, Elena and her warriors stop in Podgortsy and build fortifications. At this time, a Polish prince with an army is moving nearby, having set out to capture some land. Elena fell in love with him and is ready to give him her hand if he protects her from Bunyak. Bunyak, having passed through the Podgortsy mountains and having learned about the prince, screams so that the earth shakes. Reminds that the prince's father, when sending him on a campaign, ordered him to follow the righteous path if he did not want to destroy himself and his army, and he was going to take his wife away from him. The frightened queen tries to leave with the prince and his army, but Bunyak's spells do not allow them to move. The mountains in front of them are much higher than before. Since Elena does not want to leave the prince and becomes his wife, Bunyak curses them both. The queen with her palace, treasury and people will fall into the ground. Only once a year, on the night before Easter, and then for a minute, she will come out on the surface of the earth with her splendor. The prince and his army will also fall through. When Poland perishes, then every year on Easter night a passage will open into his home, and whoever is so happy that at that moment he enters and answers his question: "Is it time already?": "It is time already for you", he will become his savior. The prince will come out with his army and take back the kingdom from the enemies. Having said this, Bunyak screams so loudly that the earth and mountains shake, the palace with the queen, the people, the treasury, the prince and his army fall into the ground]: Barącz 1866: 81-83.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Ossetians : Rakhno 2020: 105-106 [Shanaev 1870: 18-19 and Miller 1882: 257-258; the god Tyhost in the form of a horseman used to ride out when he heard the alarm signal – fadis; one day in Kazdon, not far from Unal, two boys were grazing sheep; one asked if T. was really riding out in response to the call; the other answered that he was; the first wanted to see T. and shouted “fadis” three times; a horseman with a half-shaven head in white clothes appeared; upon learning that he had been called out as a joke, T. said that he did not want to be an object of ridicule and ordered the boy to turn to stone along with the herd; in Kazdon they show a petrified herd; T.’s dwelling was also petrified, there is a kind of stone house in this place; even the doorframes are clearly visible], 106 [1) Gardanti 1927: 18 (Digortsy, Makhchesk); when the Wheel of Oinon cut off Soslan's legs, the Narts prepared a grave and S. entered it alive; he asked God for the right to go out at every alarm call and helped the Narts; a swineherd passed by the grave and shouted: Hey, Soslan, our cattle are being driven away! S. jumped out, and the swineherd explained that he simply wanted to look at him; then S. asked God that he never return from the kingdom of the dead; 2) Khamitsaeva, Bazyrov 1989: 172-173 (Irontsy, Mizur village); although Soslan was dead, when he heard the alarm, he jumped out of the crypt and helped the Narts; a shepherd boy was driving calves and decided to see S.; he understood the alarm; having learned what was going on, S. decided that even the shepherds had begun to mock him, and he did not show up again], 6-7 [Khamitsaeva 1971: 24 (Digor people, village of Nar); when they shouted “Fades, Soslan!”, he came to the rescue; the young daughter-in-law, originally from other places, wanted to see S., went up to his crypt and called; having learned that there was no alarm, S. was offended and did not come out again].

Iran - Central Asia. Shugnans : Rakhno 2020: 107-108 [Bobrinsky 1902: 8; the legend of the fifth Shiite Imam Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir (676-732); near the village of Imom in the upper reaches of the Gunt River there is Mount Lomiyon; on its top M. hid from enemies; there was a mazar on Gunt; before his death, M. promised to come to the rescue - let them slaughter a ram in front of the entrance to the cave and call him; the inhabitants of the valley decided to test M.'s words; having learned that they called him in vain, M. ordered the inhabitants to disperse; after this, the inhabitants of the Gunt valley suffered greatly from the raids of the Kyrgyz, Shugnans and the inhabitants of the Shakhdyr valley; the valley began to be populated again at the beginning of the 20th century], 108-109 [Bobrinsky 1908: 115-116; Vasil'tsov 2013: 104-105; the mazar with the mosque of Muhammad Bogir is located near the Sardi tract; he hid in a cave here, it closed behind him; he said that if the residents were harmed, let them call him and he would come out to help; the distrustful decided to test the imam; an armed horseman in green clothes came out; he promised that now the people would not remain in constant peace; (and he did not come out again)].

Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [The Samogitian king, giants, and the army of Saint Casimir sleep in the mountain. The army will wake up when Lithuania is in danger]: Kerbelyte 2001: 600.

Volga – Perm. Chuvashes [In ancient times, there lived a hero named Chemen (Temen). Always dressed in armor, he rode a white horse across the Chuvash land and guarded the borders from enemies. Ch.'s heroic fame was loud, he was known far beyond the borders of his native land, and among the enemies there were no volunteers to measure strength and prowess with him. Before his death, Ch. gathered all the Chuvashes and ordered to bury him with his horse and armor. If enemies attack, he must be called and he will come to the rescue. One spring, young people were dancing in a circle near the burial mound. The guys remembered the hero and wanted to look at him. They shouted: "Chemen! Chemen!" The earth opened up, and Chemen rode out of the burial mound on a white horse in military armor. The guys were scared, but Ch. did not touch them, rode around the entire Chuvash land and returned to the burial mound. Since then, a plague has attacked the Chuvash children]: Shurtakov 1984: 3-4; the Chuvash [after drinking honey kvass, the Chuvash began to argue about whether Temen would come to the rescue; they began to shout: "Temen, save us, we are perishing!" Temen rode down from the mountain: like a harrier, gray, tall, broad-shouldered, on a gray horse; he rode up to the arguing people, looked around and, seeing no danger, angrily said: "Because you have disturbed me in vain, you will ask and beg forever, but in vain: I will not come to you again." Having said this, he disappeared. The Chuvash began to call upon him in prayers and sacrifice goose and porridge to him]: Ivanov 1900: 14-15 in Rakhno 2019: 66: Chuvash [Before his death, Chemen was ordered to guard his grave, and if disaster befell his descendants, he would come out at their call and defend his relatives. Several years later, skeptics, wanting to check whether Ch. could really rise from the grave, raised a false alarm. Ch. rose, but upon learning of the deception, he became angry and returned to the grave, saying that from now on he was kiremet – the deity of the sanctuary]: Romanov 1957: 198-199; Mari [Chotkar Patyr protected the people from the Tatar hordes. For a while, the Tatars left the Aryans alone, and Chotkar decided to lie down in the ground to rest. As he lay down, he said that if the Tatars attacked, he should be called out: "Chotkar, Chotkar, our protector, the Tatars have come to torment us, get up and save us from trouble!" An upstart was found who decided to test Ch.'s words. He came to the hill and began to call him. Ch. rose from under the ground, looked around - there were no Tatars. He was offended, lay down again and said that since he was being deceived, he would not get up again]: Chetkarev 1951: 159 in Rakhno 2019: 66; Mari [The hero Chuchka, also known as the ancestor of the Komi-Permyaks, when going to bed, warned his relatives to call him in the event of an attack by the Russian tsar. Hearing the call for help, he woke up and repelled the onslaught of the Russians. But when the guards, succumbing to fear, woke him up in vain, Ch. cursed the local village and fell asleep forever. “Let the village of Opanasal die out!” – and he himself went to bed”]: Aktsorin in Rakhno 2019: 66-67; Mari[summary of several sources; during his lifetime, the legendary prince-military leader of the Meadow Mari, Chumbulat, was a protector of his people. Dying, he promised to appear when called for help. The Mari solemnly buried Ch. on the mountain, fully armed and on horseback, held a rich funeral feast and mourned bitterly. When an enemy appeared, they called for Ch., who would ride out of the grave and defeat the enemy. One day, some children spied on their elders calling for Ch. for help. They ran up to the mountain, started calling for Ch., and hid. Seeing that the enemy was gone, Ch. returned to the grave. After the third time, he became angry and disappeared into the mountain forever. He began to send crop failures and diseases to the Mari. Now the angry Ch. will only save people from trouble for a rich sacrifice - a stallion]: Rakhno 2019: 67-68; Mari [Nemda led the Mari in wars. He rode a white horse. His sword glowed when enemies approached. Before his death, N. went under a stone, ordering to call him in case of war: to do this, ride around the sacred stone three times. Once the Mari called him without a reason, and the angry hero made them all his slaves: they had to sacrifice a foal to him annually]: Ilikaev 2012 in Rakhno 2019: 68.